Despite having a clean start into the first turn in the Montreal wet race, there were a few collisions on the way. One collision in particular has raised many questions about race control and that was Sergio Perez‘s crash. During the 53rd lap in Canada, Checo hit a wet patch that caused his car to lose control. However, with the car still drivable, he brought the car into the pit himself.

This raised the eyebrow of race control, who took things to the stewards. Red Bull then confessed that they had called the car in to avoid bringing out a safety car. Their goal was to not let the safety car come in, which would break Max Verstappen‘s momentum and possibly give away the lead. This did not sit right with F1 presenter Will Buxton and he had something to say about Red Bull making the track unsafe to drive on for an advantage.

Will Buxton compares Red Bull’s orders to the controversial 2008 Singapore Grand Prix

Sergio Perez lost control of his car on turn 6, and his car spun into a wall, damaging the rear of his car. Driving the car back in the condition it was in led to its fragments falling all over the track, making it dangerous for other drivers. But Red Bull gave the order anyway, and they were given a 3-place grid penalty for the upcoming Spanish Grand Prix. Along with that, they had to pay a €25,000 ($26,800) fine, which, according to Will Buxton, was not enough.

As he stated in a post on Twitter, he is not satisfied with the repercussions that the FIA set on Red Bull. Buxton explained, “Personally I don’t think the repercussions for the team are anywhere near enough. The team has admitted they told Perez to knowingly break the rules and in so doing endanger other drivers (that’s why the rule exists) so as to avoid a safety car which they knew could lose them the win.” Knowing that other drivers will be at risk with a damaged car being driven on the track, the F1 presenter believes safety should be a top concern when it comes to the rules.

Buxton compared this to Nelson Piquet Jr’s incident, where he deliberately crashed his car to bring out the safety car to let his teammate Fernando Alonso win the race. He mentioned there were just minor details that are different, as ultimately the driver’s lives are at risk. The F1 journalist concluded saying, “Reverse the outcome of the reasoning and you have a team telling a driver to break the rules to create a safety car to help them win. It’s a few degrees of separation. One is a grid drop and a fine. The other is Singapore 08.”

But you must be wondering how is an accidental crash similar to driving a crashed car on the grid. Ultimately, it’s about safety, and here is why Buxton believes there should be more to this than just the penalty.

Fernando Alonso’s Controversial Win: Crashgate

The Crashgate scandal was one of the most controversial moments in F1 history. Back then, Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet Jr were racing for Renault and the team had a difficult qualifier round. Alonso qualified 15th and his teammate was asked to crash the car intentionally on lap 14. The crash brought out the safety car and this gave Fernando Alonso a chance to narrow the gap to the race leader. The Spaniard managed to beat everyone ahead of him and win the race.

Nothing was spoken about the incident until a year later, when it was revealed that the crash was not an accident but done because of an order from the team. This sent the F1 community into an uproar as a car crashing in F1 is an extremely dangerous affair. Many questioned the ethics of Renault and team principal Flavio Briatore received a lifetime ban, while Pat Symonds got a five-year ban. However, this punishment is not enough, according to Felipe Massa, who lost crucial points due to the incident. Ultimately missing out on the championship by one point and still blamed the scandal for it.

As the main concern with the scandal was the safety of Piquet and all the other drivers on the grid, this escalated into a huge issue, and the same can be said for Perez’s situation. Although the crash was not his fault, the fact that he put other drivers in danger to avoid a safety car is. He just renewed his contract with Red Bull and lucky for him, he did not get penalized harder than he did. That being said, do you think there should have been more strict consequences in order? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.